Artist: Threshold
Label: Non Stop Music
Release: 2006
Rating: 4/5
They were small steps, taken at home for private fun… This live recording by the excellent English progressive metallers Threshold comes from the Z7 club (Pratteln, Switzerland) and was captured on the “Subsurface” tour in 2004. You can only get it through the band’s official website. That’s not a new or surprising move from them anymore. It gives them an extra source of income and lets them keep things in their own hands, totally independent of the contracts that tie them to, say, InsideOut Records.
The setlist focuses on the band’s latest studio album “Subsurface”, and out of ten songs in total, a whole six get played live on “Surface To Stage”. Once again Threshold are simply outstanding. Put plainly: stage perfection. The band sounds playful up there and the record bursts with eruptive energy. The sound is huge! A band trademark by now! Built on massive riffing from both guitars and propped up by cannon-shot drum hits, once again delivered with incredible precision. The crystal-clear drum sound and the explosive rolls, backed by outstanding double bass pedal work, are becoming a truly unmistakable, instantly recognizable part of the Threshold sound. The vocals sit front and center, powerful, determined and full of feeling, and as such convincing once more across all 72 minutes of this recording, which shows just how great a form Andrew “Mac” MacDermott is in. Threshold raise hell at a hellish volume, they’re raw, and it’s unbelievable how the band still manages to keep the sound so perfectly balanced, with the instruments living together in friendly coexistence, with no sonic overlap or instruments smothering each other, so even the keyboards, which are usually the first to suffer at such loud, cranked-up volumes, come through flawlessly on “Surface To Stage”.Threshold erupt! The atmospheres are huge and the switches between them sudden, which hits the listener like a shock and manages to create a very special shared mood, or world, that Threshold are able to build with their own unique character. The band is flawless in playing through the “Subsurface” material, but the real surprise and a proper treat for fans is the inclusion of Into The Light from Threshold’s second studio album “Psychedelicatessen” (1994).
This is a live album you won’t find in the shops, but luckily, anyone who dares pull a credit card out of their pocket and order it online will definitely be rewarded. The album is a must for all fans of the band and a welcome pick for anyone brave enough to look for unknown musical horizons, or anyone who demands an authentically red-hot shot of prog metal, flawlessly crossing stage-perfect delivery of the studio material with added sonic perfection. Threshold simply can’t make a mistake, and apparently don’t even know how. The chemistry is first-rate and the band members know exactly what each of them has to do. With this performance, a live album is truly alive in the deepest sense of the word! They were only small steps for the band, taken at home for fun…
Lineup
Mac – vocals
Karl Groom – guitar, backing vocals
Nick Midson – guitar
Richard West – keyboards, backing vocals
Steve Anderson – bass guitar, backing vocals
Johanne James – drums
Tracklist
1. Mission Profile (8:22)
2. Ground Control (7:13)
3. Into The Light (8:51)
4. Echoes Of Life (8:29)
5. Long Way Home (5:57)
6. Opium (6:29)
7. The Art Of Reason (10:06)
8. Pressure (5:22)
9. Flags And Footprints (5:10)
10. Light And Space (6:04)
Running time: 72:03
